ARTIST: The Futureheads
SONG: "Picture Of Dorian Gray"
FIRST APPEARANCE: 1-2-3-Nul! EP, 2003
WHY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN A-SIDE: These Brits' second EP caught the band when they were still figuring out where, exactly, they wanted to reside on the Britpop-homage continuum. Their cover of this Television Personalities track shows them at their scruffy best; their all-in harmonies sound like a barroom singalong that was accidentally captured to tape, while the not-quite-a-guitar-solo at the track's end is sweet enough to be nearly as hummable as the chorus:

The Futureheads - Picture Of Dorian Gray [MP3, link expired]
The Futureheads [MySpace]

ARTIST: Olivia Tremor Control
SONG: "Fireplace"
FIRST APPEARANCE: "California Demise" 7-inch, 1994
WHY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN A-SIDE: "Fireplace" is one of the earliest pieces of this storied Athens outfit's body of work, but it remains one of the strongest songs in their vast discography, in our view. (And that's saying something, because honestly, given the chance, we'd post about them at least once a week.) It's a rave-up that goes increasingly nuts with every chorus, and thanks to those piano-bashing freak-outs it's probably the closest thing to a headbanger in the first chunk of the Elephant 6 catalog:

Olivia Tremor Control - Fireplace [MP3, link expired]
Olivia Tremor Control [elephant6.com]

ARTIST: Fountains Of Wayne
SONG: "I Know You Well"
FIRST APPEARANCE: As the B-side to 1999's "Denise" single.
WHY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN A-SIDE: Years before the two-disc Out-Of-State Plates collection was released, we emptied our PayPal accounts buying up as many rare FOW singles as we could find; and while the group's throwaways were often album-worthy, no track was more unjustly left behind than "I Know You Well," a lovely jingle of devotion that's one of the finest songs ever to appear in the Schlesinger/Collingwood catalog:

Fountains Of Wayne - I Know You Well [MP3, link expired]

ARTIST: Smashing Pumpkins
SONG: "Jackie Blue"
FIRST APPEARANCE: Super Fantastic Mega Smash Hits!, 1995
WHY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN A-SIDE: Thanks to the tipster who reminded us of Super Fantastic Mega Smash Hits!, which compiled indie-rock remakes of songs from the K-Tel era. Red Red Meat, Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet, and Uncle Tupelo all had standout tracks, but we're partial to the Smashing Pumpkins' heady take on the Ozark Mountain Blue Devils' "Jackie Blue," if only because its closing guitar freak-out takes us back to the days before Billy Corgan shaved his head and James Iha became a fashionista:

Smashing Pumpkins - Jackie Blue [MP3, link expired]
SUPER FANTASTIC MEGA BONUS TRACK: Uncle Tupelo - Movin' On [MP3, link expired]
Smashing Pumpkins [MySpace]

ARTIST: Solex
SONG: "Shady Lane"
FIRST APPEARANCE: Everything Is Ending Here: A Tribute To Pavement, 2003
WHY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN A-SIDE: The Dutch electro-experimentalist Elisabeth Esselink was last seen scoring Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? in Amsterdam, but her catalog has established her as one of the best loop-twisters in the game. Solex's high-mania cover of Pavement's "Shady Lane" gives the song a huge shot of adrenaline, turning it into a roller-coaster ride that travels right through the peaks of '90s indie rock:

Solex - Shady Lane [MP3, link expired]
Solex [MySpace]

ARTIST: Man ... Or Astro-Man?
SONG: "Interplanet Janet"
FIRST APPEARANCE: School House Rock Rocks! compilation, 1996
WHY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN A-SIDE: This covers compilation saluting the Saturday-morning interstitials that taught kids about the galaxy, the government, and grammar came out shortly after Saturday Morning Cartoons' Greatest Hits, and it was full of college-rock favorites like Pavement, Chavez, and, um, Blind Melon. But Man ... Or Astro-Man? picked the perfect song to showcase their outer-space surf, with vocals that sounded like they were recorded in the hangar of a rickety rocket and a lead guitar line that had its own gravity issues. This cover never fails to put a big, huge grin on our face, and not just because it brings us back to our footed-pajama days.

Man ... Or Astro-Man? - Interplanet Janet [MP3, link expired]
DELUXX BONUS TRACK: Deluxx Folk Implosion - I'm Just A Bill [MP3, link expired]
Man ... Or Astro-Man? [Official site]

ARTIST: Getaway Car
SONG: "Sony Radio"
FIRST APPEARANCE: Stars Kill Rock compilation, 1993
WHY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN A-SIDE: "Sony Radio" is a dirty little bit of surf-punk, with two vocalists trying to out-brat each other and a guitar line that sounds like it was found on an abandoned beach. We've been fans of this song since we first unearthed this compilation 14 years ago, but information about the band has been sketchy (and, as you might expect, fairly un-Googleable); in a sense, our "it should have been an A-side" justification is partially borne out of selfishness, since we'd like to figure out just who was responsible for this song. We're only really sure of one thing: The Getaway Car that performed this song is definitely not these dudes. Otherwise, we're stumped. Ideas?

Getaway Car - Sony Radio [MP3, link expired]

ARTIST: Smog
SONG: "37 Pushups"
FIRST APPEARANCE: Rock Stars Kill, 1994
WHY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN A-SIDE: In its original incarnation, which appeared on Smog's 1993 album Julius Caesar, "37 Pushups" was propelled by a plucked guitar, with a stuttering violin accenting the encroaching madness alluded to in its lyrics. The Rock Stars Kill version came out a year later, and on it, the arrangement's flushed fleshed out to include a full band—including a string section that makes the descriptions of cold-weather solitude sound almost inviting. (Almost.)

(Smog) - 37 Pushups (Rock Stars Kill Version) [MP3, link expired]

ARTIST: The Magnetic Fields
SONG: "Smoke And Mirrors (James Noble / Mark Robinson Remix)"
FIRST APPEARANCE: MRG 100, 1997
WHY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN A-SIDE: "Smoke," which appeared on the Magnetic Fields' 1995 album Get Lost, was originally an airy, minimal lament; the Noble/Robinson remix came out two years later, on a remix EP celebrating Merge Records' 100th release. Noble and Robinson amp up the lushness quotient of the backing track, and adds a chattering synth underneath; they also turn the song into a duet, dubbing in the super-girlish vocals of Blast Off Country Style's Evelyn Hurley as a counterpoint to Stephin Merritt's deep voice. The end result is stunningly bittersweet, and one of the saddest lost-love songs we've ever stumbled across.

Magnetic Fields - Smoke And Mirrors (James Noble / Mark Robinson Remix) [MP3, link removed]

Welcome to "On The Flippity-Flop," where your Idolators spotlight unjustly ignored B-sides, bonus tracks, and EP cuts. Send your suggestions to tips@idolator.com.

ARTIST: The Cars, remixed by DJ Rockaton
SONG: "Just I What I Needed," 1978
WHY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN A-SIDE: Manhattan record store Turntable Lab's in-house label, Money Studies, provides a steady source of Hollertronix-related releases and other club-friendly material. Last year's Money Lotion #1 featured DJ Rockaton, who brought a Baltimore club feel to some hits of the '80s, and made them sound so crazy in the process. His remix of "Just What I Needed" adds an ass-shaking quality sadly absent from most of The Cars' catalog, and it's almost enough to wash away the bad taste left in our mouths by the New Cars.

DJ Rockaton - More Of What I Needed [MP3, link expired]

Welcome to "On The Flippity-Flop," where your Idolators spotlight unjustly ignored B-sides, bonus tracks, and EP cuts. Send your suggestions to tips@idolator.com.

ARTIST: The Afghan Whigs
SONG: "Miles Iz Ded"
FIRST APPEARANCE: Turn On The Water EP, 1/92
WHY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN A-SIDE: "Miles Iz Ded" was all over the Afghan Whigs' last few Sub Pop releases, although it was only mentioned by name once; the song was an untitled bonus track on Congregation, and it was remixed and retitled "Rebirth Of The Cool" for the Uptown Avondale EP. But it always deserved its day in the sun: It's a towering, bleak track, and its very NSFW video echoes its last-call despair. It's one of the band's best songs by far, and we're flabbergasted that it won't appear on the Whigs' forthcoming retrospective—come on, there's no way it isn't better than "66."

Afghan Whigs - Miles Iz Ded [MP3, link expired]
ANOTHER CURIOUS OMISSION: Afghan Whigs - Can't Get Enough Of Your Love Babe [MP3, link expired]

ARTIST: Tiger Trap
SONG: "Alien Space Song," 1994
FIRST APPEARANCE: The Tiger Trap & Henry's Dress Aeronautical Music Festival 7"
WHY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN A-SIDE: The first time we dropped the needle on "Alien Space Song," we had to check and see if our turntable was set to the right speed; sure, the Sacramento indiepoppers Tiger Trap had a few glum songs in their catalog, but none of them was as moody as this. The guitars on "Alien" have a melancholy glow, and the song's protagonist is someone who either has to split town or blast off into another galaxy; what it adds up to is a shimmering lament that's replayable on any super-wretched day.

Tiger Trap - Alien Space Song [MP3, link expired]

ARTIST: Velocity Girl
SONG: "Warm/Crawl," 1992
FIRST APPEARANCE: Sub Pop Singles Club #39
WHY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN A-SIDE: "Warm/Crawl" came from a limited-edition split single that Velocity Girl put out with fellow D.C. indie stalwarts Tsunami. It's almost two songs in one, with a dreamy, soaring first half that gives way to some frantic guitars and a cascade of multitracked Sarah Shannon vocals, and the way those two halves come together pretty much sums up why we still give Copacetic spins after all these years.

Velocity Girl - Warm/Crawl [MP3, link expired]
BONUS FLIPPITY-FLOP FLIP SIDE: Velocity Girl - Tales Of Brave Aphrodite [MP3, link expired]
Velocity Girl [subpop.com]

ARTIST: Helium
SONG: "What Institution Are You From?," 1995
FIRST APPEARANCE: Superball+ EP
WHY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN A-SIDE: Helium's 1995 album The Dirt Of Luck was a straight-up masterpiece, but the four bonus songs on Superball+ aren't any slouches, either. "What Institution Are You From?" is the high point of the disc; it has a heavy low end and a bewitching organ line, and it winds down with a crazy bass freak-out. Somehow, this EP has fallen out of print; the haunting, fuzzed-out "#12 L'Enfant" should be more than enough supplemental evidence to convince you to track down a used copy.

Helium - What Institution Are You From? [MP3, link expired]
Helium - #12 L'Enfant [MP3, link expired]